18G SOME REMARKS ON THE 



aggrandizement was concerned, and who certainly had more of the 

 Puritan than the Romanist in him, admonishes his future heir to 

 beware how he meddled with church property ; " for the curse of 

 God will follow all them that meddle with such a thing that tends 

 to the destruction of the most apostolical church upon earth."* 

 And even Selden, " the chief of learned men reputed in this land/' 

 as Milton styles him, he whom no one will accuse of an excessive 

 zeal for ecclesiastical rights, declares, in reference to the alienation 

 of tithes, " It is a destruction for a man to devour what is conse- 

 crated." 



Burnett, in the violence of his antipathy against the monastic 

 establishments, has completely overlooked all the good points — if 

 we may so express ourselves — the attractive properties about them. 

 If we are to acquiesce in his opinion, we must believe that monach- 

 ism was a system from which all virtues were excluded, and in 

 which all vices were incorporated.t This assuredly is to form 

 a very erroneous and partial view of the subject; since, if the 

 purest part of religion be benevolence and charity to our fellow 

 creatures, it cannot be doubted that in one sense these endowments 

 stood linked with the favour of heaven. Pope Ganganelli, there- 

 fore, in our opinion, took a more comprehensive view of the matter 

 in hand — manifested more liberal principles — than the protestant 

 bishop, when he said, " The religious orders have not been gifted 

 with infallibility nor with indefectibility. If they were all to be 

 abolished this day the loss would be great, but the church would 

 be neither less holy, less apostolical, nor less respectable." 



While we join, then, with Burnett, in expressing our devout 

 gratitude that this nation has snapped the chains of popery — 

 — still, never can our reformation be called complete, till the cler- 

 gyman is enabled to exist upon the emoluments of a single bene- 

 fice. Centuries have rolled away since the despoliation of the 



* Kennet's Impropriation, p. 438. 



+ The preamble of 27 H. VIII., c. 28, which assigns the lesser monaste- 

 ries to the king, sets forth the monstrous disorders that were found to exist 

 in them. But no charge of misconduct is brought against the greater ones, 

 in the edict which proclaims their downfall. This silence suggests a proba- 

 ble argument that their abolition was not the consequence of immorality or 

 want of discipline ; though that " good hater" of them, Burnett, has cited 

 cases which, if not resting on vague and uncertain traditions, must be allow- 

 ed to prove that " iniquity greatly abounded" in them. We must not for- 

 get that even Sanders admits that crimes were detected under the monkish 

 cowl, though invention exaggerated them. " Criminibus religiosum partim 

 detect is, partim coii/iiiis." 



